


Falling is Fatal (Don’t Look Down)

by Leviarty



Category: Leverage
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Episode: s05e09 The Rundown Job, Episode: s05e15 The Long Goodbye Job, F/M, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 01:36:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6403366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leviarty/pseuds/Leviarty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dating Parker wasn’t quite what he imagined it would be – but then again, nothing was as expected with Parker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling is Fatal (Don’t Look Down)

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during season 5, with specific references to: 5x01 (The Very Big Bird Job), 5x04 (The French Connection), 5x15 (The Long Goodbye Job) and mostly 5x09 (The Rundown Job).

_one_

“What do people in relationships do?” Parker had asked, when it came up.

“Um… lots of things, I guess.” The question had thrown him off guard. It was something most people just knew. But Parker… Parker was always missing something when it came to human interaction. “Hang out, you know, go on dates and stuff. They do things they both like.”

“We both like stealing,” she said. “We do that together all the time.”

“Yeah, but… that’s like work. People in relationships do other things, not work related things.”

“I don’t like many other things. I like money.”

He laughed. “I know.”

“And we get dinner together most nights, and watch movies together all the time. Aren’t those the kinds of things people do on dates?”

“Sure, but just because you do those things, doesn’t really mean you’re dating. We have dinner with the crew most of the time.”

“Ooookay,” Parker said slowly, like she still didn’t quite understand. “You say you think we should be in a relationship, we should date, or whatever, but I don’t understand how that’s any different than how things are right now?”

“Kissing. People in relationships kiss.”

Parker frowned. “But we _do_ kiss.”

“Kissing while we’re running a con doesn’t count.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. If it did, you’d already be dating me and Eliot-”

“Once! It happened _one_ _time_. Why does no one let that go?” Hardison exclaimed.

“And I’d be dating the whole team.”

Hardison blinked. “When did you kiss Sophie? When did you kiss _Nate_?” He wasn’t sure which confounded him more.

Parker waved her hand like it didn’t matter. “So if being in a relationship means kissing and eating together, and watching movies, and stealing…. I’m sorry, Hardison, but I don’t get it. How is any of that different than how things already are?”

Hardison shrugged, at a loss.

“Maybe you’re missing something. I’ll ask Sophie. Sophie will know.”

 

_two_

And of course, Sophie did have the answers, because she always did.

 

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” Parker told him. His face must have shown something, because she immediately followed it with: “Not because you’re unattractive or I don’t like you… I think you’re very nice to look at, and I really like kissing you. But I don’t want to have sex. With anyone, not just you.”

“Oh. Um. Okay?”

“Sophie says that’s one of the big parts of being in a relationship with someone, and I don’t think I could ever be in a relationship with someone, no matter how much I like them.”

“But you do like me?” Hardison asked.

Parker nodded, and smiled a little apologetically.

“Well, not every relationship has to be sexual,” he offered. “We could try, I don’t know...”

“Sophie said other things too, like dates and stuff. Doing things the other person enjoys, even if you don’t necessarily like doing them.”

“I wouldn’t make you have sex if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“I didn’t think you would. But I was thinking… maybe I could watch that Battlestar Helvetica or whatever - ”

“Galactica. Battlestar _Galactica_.”

“Whatever. I could watch that with you, and you could come skydiving with me.”

Hardison blanched, his eyes wide. “Skydiving?”

Parker nodded enthusiastically.

“Maybe we could start a little smaller?” he asked.

“Bungee jumping?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Rappelling? I mean, you’ve done that before. Not so bad, right?”

“Horrible, actually,” he said. “But I’m willing to try again, I guess.”

“Sweet!”

 

He did, of course, want to have sex with Parker, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Not having sex is probably the least bizarre part of their relationship – though, admittedly, it’s probably his fault for not having a better answer to what a relationship actually meant.

Not that he was complaining, because he gets to kiss her pretty much whenever he wants.

Constantly putting himself in life-threatening situations wasn’t exactly his idea of _fun_ though.

 

_three_

These days they didn’t have dinner as a team quite as often – Nate and Sophie went off and did their own thing a lot, leaving the others to do whatever they pleased. Which was fine for everyone. Hardison got to work on his latest disaster brews (which, even Eliot had to admit, even it only to himself, were getting marginally better), and Eliot cooked up delicious new meals for the menu, and Parker… did whatever it was Parker did.

Which, at the moment, was moaning over Eliot’s latest creation.

“You have to stop making those noises,” Eliot hissed at her, threatening to take the plate away.

“No!” she screeched, snatching the plate back, protecting it like a mother bird. “It’s delicious and it’s mine.”

“I’m beginning to think teaching her to appreciate food was a mistake,” Hardison said, looking at them over his laptop.

“Everyone should appreciate food,” Eliot said. He glared slightly until Hardison appeased him by taking a bite of the dish. “They should just appreciate it less… graphically.”

“Huh?” she asked, letting a little bit of pasta fall out of her mouth.

“I think was Eliot is trying to say,” Hardison said. “Is that the sounds you’re making are very similar to sounds that most people make during sex. People are starting to stare.”

“Oh.” She clasped her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Sorry. It’s just really good.”

 

 

_four_

“Do you ever… wonder if you’re a good person?”Parker asked.

“What?” Eliot asked, thrown for a loop.

“Are we good people?”

“We help people all the time,” Hardison said. “Several people a week, at least.”

“I know but… we’ve hurt people too. Before, I mean. We weren’t always good guys. And I just wonder… does all the good we’ve gone offset the bad? Or are we bad people who do good things?”

“The world isn’t black and white, Parker,” Eliot said. “Everyone has a little good and a little bad. Good things don’t change the fact that there are bad things, that we’ve _done_ bad things – and hell, I’ve done a lot of ‘em , worse than you two combined ­– but it does change us.”

“Like a butterfly,” Parker said.

Hardison and Eliot exchanged an amused look. “Sure, like a butterfly. The caterpillar isn’t any more or less bad than the butterfly. Just different.”

“I’m not sure I like change though,” Parker said. “I mean, I like what we do, but… what if I don’t like what I change into? Or what if you guys don’t like what I change into?”

“Nonsense, babe,” Hardison said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

“We settle it now,” Eliot said, earning a look of confusion from them both. “We’re all going to change, it’s inevitable. So we agree to change together.”

“For better or worse,” Hardison said.

 

_five_

She thinks she gets it – really she does. There are lots of different kinds of relationships, and for a long time she didn’t have any of them. It’s understandable that she has a hard time figuring things out, once she has a few constants in her life. But she gets it, that her relationship with Hardison is different from her relationship with Nate and Sophie, even if she’s not having sex with any of them.

The problem isn’t with any of that.

It’s with Eliot.

Because everything she’s read on the subject says that she has a romantic relationship with Hardison, and that’s different from the familial relationship she has with Nate and Sophie. And romantic relationships are between two people who are in love or something close to it.

So why does her relationship with Eliot feel so similar to the one she has with Hardison? Why does she like kissing them both, and want to kiss Eliot outside of cons, like she kisses Alec?

She had thought she understood, but she just _doesn’t_.

 

 

_six_

He tried not to look too hard, not to watch the way Hardison’s shoulders moved, or how his fingers danced over the keyboard, or how Parker’s body moved like fluid, how she glided.

It was damn near impossible.

So he gave in, let himself have this one little thing. Look but don’t touch. Don’t touch unless they touch first.

But they do touch. A lot. Hardison in particular. Stray hands here, tapping fingers there. Parker snuggled up to him on the couch and falls asleep in his lap while they watched old episodes of crappy sci fi. Hardison laced an arm around his waist to guide him into the kitchen to try his latest brew. Parker perched herself on his shoulders, a bowl of cereal resting on his head. Hardison sat with him when the chairs were too few. She held his hand, he stood too close. Personal space became a thing of the past, and, okay.

He can work with that.

 

 

_seven_

Hardison didn’t think he could decide which thing was sexier, if forced to choose – because Parker was a skilled acrobat, moving between laser like water around a grid, like it was effortless, but hell, watching Eliot take out a handful of guards was equally stimulating, and nope, there was no way he could ever choose between them.

He could feel Eliot watching over his shoulder as Parker gracefully tackled the laser beams. Maybe he should’ve felt some kind of jealousy, that another man was watching his girl like he was, but…

He just didn’t.

 

 

_eight_

“Do you want to have sex with Eliot?” Parker asked.

“Wha- _what?_ ”

“Do you want to have sex with Eliot,” she asked again, more slowly. “I think he wants to have sex with you, but I’m not sure. He’s not as easy to read as you are.”

“And that’s… I’m sorry, _what_?”

“We should talk to him.”

“Talk to him about _what?_ ” He had never been more confused in his life.

“I like kissing him. I’d like to do that more. And you’d like to have sex with him. We should just talk to him about it, before things get weird.”

“Right, because asking your coworker to have sex with you never makes things weird.”

“Pfft.”

 

 

_nine_

He loves them both so damned much, and it hit him like a fucking brick to the gut.

Not like he didn’t see it coming; he recognized the signs, knew long enough that he could’ve gotten himself out. He never did, of course, because more than he loves them, he actually likes them. Likes being with them, even if he isn’t _really_ with them (though, he never felt like a third wheel, somehow).

 

He’s used to people leaving, bailing on him when they’re bored or when they’re too busy, or when his secrets catch up with him.

Hardison and Parker have seen the best and worst of him. If anyone has the right to leave, it’s them.

So he pushes them away, tells them to get out of DC while they can; he’ll handle this.

And there’s just… no question. These people, a trio of people who, once upon a time, relied on no one, every-man-for-themselves, worked alone because a crew was unreliable-

They don’t even entertain it, not for a second.

It didn’t really surprise him much, if he’s honest. The real surprise is in his gut, where he found that their refusal to go is exactly what he’d been hoping for, even if the voice in his head is telling them to _go go go get out_. He wants them to go, to be safe, but more than that he’d been scared that they would leave.

A physical blow would’ve hurt less.

 

 

_ten_

And it would’ve been so easy to kiss him right then and there. To pull him in a little closer, offer himself up. He was already close, closer than he had any right to be, what was a few more inches?

But he didn’t. It wasn’t the right place, and they were running short on time.

 

 

_eleven_

Hardison looped his arm around Eliot’s waist, taking some of the weight off his bad leg while pulling him as close as he could. He could feel Parker’s arm do the same from his other side. “I’m telling you, he takes getting shot very lightly.”

“Let’s go home,” Eliot said, smiling between them.

 

 

_twelve_

Hardison turned on an episode of Stargate SG1 while they cleaned up Eliot’s wounds (despite his constant half-hearted attempts to shoo them away).

Parker finished up his shoulder, then took to staring him eerily in the eye.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked finally.

“What?” Eliot asked. Hardison looked up at the pair of them, a surgical needle hanging between his teeth.

“Hardison says I should ask people before I do things that might make them uncomfortable. So I’m asking.”

“Hardison?” Eliot asked. He liked to think he was good at reading people, that this wouldn’t be a problem, but he could never be too sure. Not on this.

“All on you, man.”

Eliot turned back to Parker and nodded. She grinned madly, and leaned forward. She pressed her lips to his. It was barely more than a peck, and far less than any kiss they’ve shared on a con, but it still left a pleasant tingling in her stomach.

“I will, however, be extremely jealous if you don’t kiss me too,” Hardison said. He finished tying off the suture – something he’d gotten entirely too accustomed to doing ­– and sat up expectantly.

 

 

_thirteen_

Hardison carefully reached over to get Parker’s attention. Eliot was between them, sleeping soundlessly. His head was resting on Hardison, while his hand was curled around Parker’s.

“Aww,” she said, a little too loudly.

“Mm?” Eliot asked, stirring.

“Time to get to bed,” Parker said. “Come on.” She got up and tugged a little on his good arm. She and Hardison helped him to his feet and down the hall.

“I do have my own bed at my place,” Eliot said.

“Don’t be silly,” Parker said. They settled into the king size, with Eliot on one side, Parker on the other, and Hardison cozy between them.

“Go to sleep, babe,” Hardison said.

 

 

_fourteen_

Eliot awoke first – he always woke up earlier than anyone else. Hardison had an arm laid over his chest, but it was light and unobtrusive. Comfortable, even. Parker was splayed out on the other side of the bed, snoring softly.

He carefully moved Hardison’s arm away and slipped out.

 

He was only in the bathroom for a short time, but when he opened the door, Hardison was sitting in the living room, waiting with arms crossed over his chest.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Dammit, Hardison.”

“Trying to leave without saying goodbye, like we wouldn’t notice?”

“I wasn’t… I was just going to make breakfast.”

Hardison narrowed his eyes at him, searching for a tell. Eliot crossed his finger over his heart, as a promise.

“Okay.” He stepped out of the way, then followed Eliot into the kitchen.

For a while he just watched him cook, silent and patient. “Parker likes you,” he said finally.

“And you?” Eliot asked..

“We both like you a lot. But… We can’t have you here with one foot out the door. Either you’re in, or out. And we’ll respect whatever decision you-”

“Hardison,” Eliot interrupted. He set down the utensils he was working with, and moved across the room so fast Hardison thought he might attack. He took Hardison’s face between his hands and held him close.  “I’m in,” he said. “For as long as you’ll have me.”

“Oh.” A smile crept across Hardison’s face. “Good.”

“Now eat your damn breakfast. _Parker_!”

 

 

_fifteen_

“Promise me you’ll keep them safe.”

“Until my dying day,” he says. It’s not an empty vow. He’d die a thousand deaths before he let anything happened to them.

 “You know, Eliot, I’d say, call if you need anything. But you never… never need anything.”

He couldn’t have been further from the truth. Eliot had been so alone, he hadn’t even known how lonely he was. “Yeah I did. But thanks to you, I don’t have to search anymore.” He hoped they understood that, that they understood just how much he needed them, relied on them.

 

 

_sixteen_

Eliot’s hand finds his under the table, and holds on tight.

 

 

_seventeen_

Hardison kisses the back of  Eliot’s neck, a soft but solid force behind him.

 

 

_eighteen_

Parker pulls her boys in close, and never let’s go.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm quite unsure of how this turned out. It's not at all what I had planned, but I do like it... it's just not what I hoped, you know?
> 
> Parker is a hard voice to capture, so I hope I did okay.


End file.
